What I Would Do For You
by Seryan Parks
Summary: Years after her friend Adira apparently committed suicide, Leah finds out the impossible: She's alive… so far… As Leah races against time to rescue her, she must ask herself: Which instinct is stronger, friendship or self-preservation?
1. Life Goes On

**Title: What I Would Do For You**

**Summary: **Years after her friend apparently committed suicide, Leah finds out the impossible: She's alive… so far… As Leah races against time to rescue her, she must ask herself: Which instinct is stronger, friendship or self-preservation?  
**A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own Middle Earth or the Silmarillion, or any characters yet to be introduced. Leah and Adira, however, are of my own creation. Anyway, Enjoy, read, and review!**

_Prologue: Goodbye, Hello_

_Adira raised the gun. She made sure the note was in place. Brushing a strand of reddish-brown hair behind her ear, she smiled. _Goodbye, Earth, _she thought. BANG! She shot the gun into the air. And… as her mother came running to see what happened… she melted away, never to return to this world…_

Chapter One: Life Goes On

Leah hurried to her Algebra I class. Another tardy and it would be a detention. Rushing by the jocks' lockers, Landon Johnson lazily put his foot out, a pathetic attempt to trip her. She understood his message: Get lost.

Today she made it by their lockers without getting harassed. Normally Landon or his friends might try to steal her books or shove her against the wall. Bullying was a new experience for her, at least this _physical _type of bullying. Girl trash talk she could deal with- hey, just talk trash back, right?- but boys pushing her around was not as easily dealt with. Leah even knew why they picked on her- this year, her sophomore year at McCallister High, was the first year since Adira died that she hadn't had a boyfriend to protect her.

Leah wasn't a weak girl. She was tall and relatively strong and could hold her own in a catfight, if it came down to it. But the football players were just… bigger. _Is this how you felt, Adira? You'd just shove your way through them like they didn't matter. Even though you were half their size. _More and more, Leah felt herself "talking" to Adira. Why? Guilt, maybe. Leah KNEW Adira's death was her fault. That stupid fight…of it weren't for her, Adira might be alive. If, if…

Leah rushed into Mr. Thomas's room seconds before the bell rang. "OK, people, open your textbooks and let's review your homework from last night." Thomas boomed. They'd had homework last night? Whoops.

Leah passd the rest of the period in a dreamlike state. Algebra I was her 7th-period class. After that she could go home.

"Leah! If you would be so kind as to rejoin us!" Mr. Thomas's voice invaded her thoughts.

"Yeah, whatever." The rest of the period passed uninterestingly enough. Actually, nothing of interest happened… until Leah fell asleep on the bus ride home.

_She was in a forest, a huge forest. The very trees resonated anger, murder… evil. She heard screams, and seemed to be running, but she was covering no ground, going nowhere…. Then Leah was falling, falling… into a flaming Eye. Then, Adira's voice: "Help me Leah! Help, please, Leah, where are you?" She tried to scream "Here!" but it came out as a guttural snarl. She felt anger and … hate dominated her. "Keep screaming. I won't help you." a voice that was not her own said. Adira's voice was pleading now. "Please, help me…" she began screaming in a language Leah could not comprehend. "Bado na Ennorath! Tolo hi! Ava achemo! Im harnannen!" then, barely a whisper, "Im gosta. Help…"_

Leah woke up with a start. She remembered every detail of her dream in vivid - the hate of the trees, the horrible Eye, Adira's tortured screams…. Was Adira trying to contact her- from beyond the grave? That Eye- did it mean Adira was in hell?

Was it all just a dream?

Or was it a message? Leah didn't know if she wanted to find out…

Translation time:

Bado na Ennorath- Go to Middle-Earth

Tolo hi!- Come now!

Ava achemo!- Don't look back!

Im harnannen!- I'm wounded

Im gosta- I am afraid


	2. Death Continues Ever After

**Title: What I Would Do For You**

**Summary: **Years after her friend apparently committed suicide, Leah finds out the impossible: She's alive… so far… As Leah races against time to rescue her, she must ask herself: Which instinct is stronger, friendship or self-preservation?

**A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own Middle Earth or the Simarillion, or any characters yet to be introduced. Leah and Adira, however, are of my own creation. Also: Adira's 'note' is part of the lyrics from 'Gollum's Song', part of TTT soundtrack. **

Chapter Two: Death Continues Ever After

After that day, Leah's dreams kept coming. Every night, a new horror- but always the Eye, Adira's plea for help, and Leah's own response in that snarling voice. Leah no longer had any doubt that Adira was contacting her…but how? Adira was dead! She'd killed herself with her dad's gun, right in her own house! Even though her body had disappeared, her note was there:

Where once was light, now darkness falls

Where once was love, love is no more

Don't say goodbye, don't say I didn't try

The tears we cry are falling rain

For all the lies you told us

The hurt, the blame!

And we will weep, to be so alone

We are lost! We can never go home.

It was so poetic-Adira was always so elegant in speech- even in death.

Leah suddenly remembered what the police chief told her, when they were first investigating Adira's death, before it had been ruled as a suicide. Two years ago. She was 14 when she died; Leah was the same age, and desperate to believe something-anything-that would contradict the harsh reality of Adira's death. "Look, kid," he'd told her, "no body, no murder. Yet. If she killed herself, where's the body? She could have run away."

The chief's words had ignited a shimmer of hope in Leah's heart- Adira could have shot the gun off, and fled through the window, right? Until, 5 months later, the state officially declared Adira Jones deceased by her own hand. Even now, Leah couldn't help but wonder if the blood was on hers.

Don't say goodbye.

The words suddenly flashed in Leah's mind. Don't say goodbye. what if Adira was somehow alive? Maybe she had somehow moved onto a spirit state of being? Spirits were real, right? Leah hadn't been to church in years, but she remembered the teachings about ghosts and demons and angels. What if Adira could only communicate through dreams? Ghosts on TV did. Then Leah could talk to Adira! And ask her what she'd been dying to know since that fateful day, two years ago: _Why?_


	3. Dream Realms

_Title: What I Would Do For You_

_Summary: __**Years after her friend apparently committed suicide, Leah finds out the impossible: She's alive… so far… As Leah races against time to rescue her, she must ask herself: Which instinct is stronger, friendship or self-preservation?**_

_**A/N: Leah and Adira are my OCs. This chapter is entirely Leah's dream, rated T because I don't want an 8 year old saying "Mommy, what does [insert word here] mean?"**_

_**I don't own anything but Leah and Adira. Characters yet to be introduced belong to Tolkien. And those of you who are particularly perspicacious will notice that Adira tends to cry out in Elvish.**_

_Chapter Three: Dream Realms_

_There. The screams again. Oh, God, they were definitely Adira's. and although Leah couldn't see _the Eye this time, she _felt _it- oh yeah, she could feel its evil presence. It weighed on her back, cramming into her subconscious mind. Leah tried to scream. She was again in the dark forest. The snarling voice was struggling to be heard over her real one- perhaps because Leah _wanted _to speak this time? "Adira!"

"_Tolo hi! _" Adira cried in the strange language. "Leah! Please come! _Im harnannen! Ai, Elbereth!_" Adira sounded so close, and yet so far away, always around the next looming, evil tree. And suddenly- after what seemed like years of searching- Leah saw a figure just ahead of her. It was on its hands and knees. It looked human enough- if not for the inhuman wails coming from its mouth.

"_AIE! GWANNO EREBNIN!" _it clutched at its head, as if that would take away the terror of the forest out. "Go, in the name of Eru! Leave me!" Leah knew in her heart that this crouching, wailing person was Adira. Only it wasn't, her brain argued. Adira was much shorter, and her ears were not pointed, as this being's were, and Adira's hair had more copper light in it. Yet- could a person age after death? Adira had committed suicide at 14, yet this person looked more like 17.

The figure lifted its head- and Leah almost retched. Without a doubt, this mangled form was Adira. Her face was somehow longer, and more beautiful than she had ever been on Earth- but Adira's scars on her face and body told of torture and misery. All along her face and neck ran deep gouges, as if made by claws. Her face was burned and scarred. She had bruises and gashes without number, and at least two open sores on her face, oozing pus. Adira's hair was matted with mud, sweat, and blood, and her clothes- they might have once been a tunic and leggings, but now barely enough tattered cloth remained to keep her decent. Her left foot was horribly mauled, as if by a wolf or lion.

Leah crouched down, and loathed to touch her old friend. She put her hand on Adira's shoulder anyway, and Adira flinched under its weight. The name _Adira_ was supposed to mean strong and majestic; this girl, half dead and bleeding, was anything but. "Adira, what have you done?" she mused aloud. Leah fought back tears.

Of all of Adira's hideous injuries, her eyes were the worst to behold. They had once been clear and blue- now her eyes were faded to grey and looked haunted, hunted- and afraid.

"See? I'm not dead." Adira still spoke with that sarcastic, arrogant wit that she'd had- back home. At home Adira had been a genius at science. Her intelligence spilled into her voice and words. That she was alive- really, truly alive- was a huge comfort to Leah.

"I'm not dead." Adira repeated, more slowly this time, her tongue fumbling over a split lip and missing teeth. "But neither is this life. This dream cannot go on much longer, Leah. Like in the _Avatar_ movie. My real body is in a dungeon, like your is in your bed."

"You're not dead." Leah was still fumbling over this information. "but your note- your suicide- you disappeared-"

"Yeah, I staged my suicide. What did you think of the note?" Her face cracked in what might have been a smile, and more blood poured out. "I thought it was good. But yes, I left Earth-"

"You left earth?" Leah interrupted. She now met Adira's tortured gaze. "Like, another dimension? Like on that movie, where the girl walked into the closet? Or like another planet? Can you come bac-"

"Never." Adira's quiet voice rang with finality and firmness. "I will never go back to Earth, your Earth. I'd rather endure this hell a thousand times over."

"You can't mean that! Look at you, your foot-"

"I mean every word of it. But Leah, time is limited, and I've been trying to contact you for weeks. I need help to escape. I'd hoped Thingol might send- never mind that."

"You just said you never wanted to go back!" Leah cried out in frustration.

"You misunderstand. I don't want to go back to _your_ earth, I don't want to go back to America or my old life. I told you, my body is in a dungeon. And this-" she gestured to her "Avatar_" _body- "is weakening."

"So you need my help to go back to- your new country? Is that right? In this-" Leah struggled for words- "alternate dimension?"

"Yes. Will you?"

Before Leah could answer, something highly irregular and frightening happened- the ever-present Eye, that Leah constantly roving and searching, cast its awful gaze upon the dark forest, in those mirky woods. Then the trees, that _radiated_ anger and hatred, the trees began to move. Curling up their roots, causing small earthquakes, moving, _walking_.

Adira laughed dryly, but there was no mirth in it, only pain. "The trees are _his_ servants, you know." The Adira began to sing in her dry, quiet voice:

_Earth shakes_

_Stone breaks_

_The forest is at your door_

_The dark sleep is broken _

_the woods have awoken_

_The trees have gone to war._

_Leah woke up in a cold sweat._


	4. Not My Day

Chapter 2

Adira's POV

Adira was in pain, lots of pain. More than she's experienced in her entire captivity here, however long it had been. Adira hung her head. She strained yet again against the chains that bound her to the wall. Her dark, dank, cramped cell was in the bowels of Morgoth's fortress, Angband. _The Avari were right to call it the Hells of Iron, _Adira thought. _Because this _is _hell. _

She was bound to the cold stone wall by a thick, heavy chain around her neck. He hands were manacled behind her back. As Sauron himself often told her, resistance was futile.

Thoughts swirled around in her head, of her old life, of a certain Noldo prince, of torture, maiming, pain. It hurt, so much. Where was he? Didn't he know where she was? Certainly Morgoth would have tried to use her as a bargaining chip. But maybe he was too busy, too consumed with lust for those cursed jewels to notice. For the umpteenth time that day- or was it night?- Adira's vision began to fade, and her thoughts were not her own.

Beleg's POV

Today was really not Beleg's day. Thingol was in one of his moods, and the sky mirrored his temper. Rain poured down in torrents. As if determined to make every Elf as miserable as he was, Thingol ordered Beleg's patrol group to inspect the area within a three league radius of the Girdle. Nan Dungorthreb was running amok with the foul offspring of Ungoliant. Ruinár was killed in the skirmish, and several other noble Elves were wounded. Thingol had finally awarded the position of Marchwarden- to Celoríl. Beleg had been working diligently for decades for the honor, and Thingol knew it, too. True, Beleg had been a bit- wild in his early years of service to Doriath. But he was of age now and very serious about his job.

Under the circumstances, perhaps it was not surprising that a girl- a _human girl- made it past the Girdle._


	5. I Remember

**Some exposition on Leah, and how she ends up in the Girdle. It's kind of rambling, but please bear with me.**

**Two Weeks Ago**

Leah had always been told that it was evil to contact spirits, that demons could take any form they wanted to deceive the living. But she was never one for following directions.

Leah had lots of questions after Adira had died. She had researched causes of suicide and the psychological urges that might cause someone to do such a thing. Leah's passion for knowledge had gotten her into the school's Intermediate Psychology class as a freshman- something unheard of.

Yet all the learning, research, and studying had not answered the most important question: Why?

Her recent dreams had not helped matters any. Leah was losing sleep and performing poorly in her classes. If she had accepted Adira's death in the two years since it had happened, now she doubted anything was to be trusted.

Leah absent-mindedly turned off the DVD player and ordered her younger sister, Bethany, and her friends to bed. They were wrapping up a Harry Potter movie marathon, and were having a slumber party in the basement.

Leah went through her own bedtime procedure, but she wasn't sleepy. Leah was thinking about Adira more in the past two weeks than she had in the past six months. And she was remembering things that she had hoped to forget. Namely, Adira's diary.

Mrs. Jones had asked for help in cleaning out Adira's room about a year after _it_ had happened. Leah had stumbled upon a book full of poems- Mrs. Jones had said that Adira hoped to publish them. Adira had barely passed English, and her writing assignments had all the sophistication of a second-grader describing the weekend.

Mrs. Jones offered the book to Leah, saying she couldn't bear to have it around anymore. Leah later doubted that Mrs. Jones knew it was a diary, especially since the first dozen or so pages were poems along the lines of _Roses are red, violets are blue, I like science, what about you?_

After that, they got a lot more angsty.

On impulse, Leah hopped out of bed and rooted around in her closet for the diary.

It was a notebook labeled "English Shit". For someone with such a huge vocabulary and who was on the debate team, Adira was a nightmare to the English teachers at the high school.

There were the second-grade level poems, some "I hate the world" Eric Harris-type poetry, and then the stranger, otherworldly stuff. Leah was surprised by this the first time she had read it. Adira could have been a literary genius if she'd tried.

_Death!_

_For freedom is not free_

_(Someone must pay the price)_

_Death!_

_For glory and liberty!_

_(The front lines now charge)_

_Death!_

_For Ruin_

_And the World's ending!_

Reading through the diary, Leah felt unnaturally close to Adira. Like she was breathing down her neck. As if she were _right here._

"_Boo."_

_Leah woke up in the middle of a forest._


	6. Empty Words

**What I Would Do For You Chapter 6: Empty Words**

Adira knew no count of days, or nights, only eternal darkness. Sometimes the Orc guards threw her food, and sometimes Sauron came to visit.

Today was one of those days.

"Good morning, my pet." Sauron greeted. His voice made Adira sick- it was the voice of a spider inviting a fly for dinner.

Adira made no reply. She stared at nothing, waiting for the endless game to play itself out.

"Mmm, not much to say? _Cat_ got your tongue?" the Prince of Cats cackled.

If there were crickets in the dungeons…

"But enough chitchat. Have you changed your mind since last we conversed?"

"I know nothing," Adira replied.

Sauron laughed. How she loved to play this game! He regained his composure and asked the question that he asked every time.

"What do you know of the Feanorians' council?"

"I know nothing." Adira insisted.

"Tsk, tsk, my pet. Wrong answer." Sauron said. "I assure you, if the Lord were not concerned with other matters, he would glean the answer from you more fruitfully…and more painfully."

"There is only one Lord, and He does not wear an iron crown." Adira stated.

Sauron smirked. "Your Eru has no power here."

"Eru has power everywhere." Adira said, but her words lacked conviction, and Sauron knew it.

"Lord Melkor has little patience for spies of the enemy," Sauron cackled gleefully. Today would be a lot of fun, Sauron mused.

_I love my job._

* * *

Leah's first though was, oh my gosh, I'm dead. I'mdeadimdeadimdeadimdeadimdea didiedimdead.

Her second thought was, I don't feel very dead.

Leah sat up. She was in the middle of a forest. The trees were not dark and foreboding like the trees in her dream, but the forest still did not seem like the happiest place in the world.

The world. Where in the world was she?

Forest, she knew that much. There were no forests anywhere close to her house, so she was probably far away from home.

_Well, that got me nowhere._

Leah stood up and stretched. She was sore. Maybe she'd fallen? Having no idea where 'out' was, Leah picked a direction and started walking. After a while, she started singing softly to herself.

_Some of these trees have been growing for years_

_The leaves on the floor must be five meters deep_

_The paths are a labyrinth or even a trap_

_Some tides never turn_

_Some things never come back_

Soon Leah forgot herself and started singing louder. She ran through many of her favorite pop tunes when…

…she heard something.

Leah stopped and fell silent. If _she_ had heard _it_, there was no way _it_ hadn't heard _her._

_Oh God, _she thought. _This time I really am gonna die._

A shadowy figure dropped from the tree limbs above her head, and as it rose to its full height, Leah realized…

…it was a person.

No, not quite a person. It- well, he, Leah could see it was a he- had silver hair and pointy ears, and he looked both young and old, wise and yet naïve. He reminded her sharply of Adira.

"Uhm… do you speak English?"

The tall man looked her over, trying to make something of a lost girl in the woods.

"No. What is it?"

Leah noticed a _huge_ bow and quiver of arrows slung across his back, and if Leah was scared before, she was terrified now. She tended to say stupid things when she was afraid.

"Are you human?" she blurted out.

The man snorted. "I should say not. I am of the Sindar, the Grey Elves. You are wandering in the realm of Melian the Queen, a crime that is not lightly dismissed in the realm of Doriath."

Under his proud words, Leah thought the man- elf, whatever- sounded miserable. In the dim light, Leah saw that he was wet and muddy. He had the look of someone who worked long hours at a miserable job for minimum wage. (Leah didn't know it, but it wasn't that far from the truth.)

"What's your name?" Leah was full of questions. "Are you a hunter?"

"Is there no end to your curiosity, human? I am Beleg Strongbow of Elu Thingol's girdle patrol. And though you have told me nothing of yourself, I can see a great deal about you already. You are human, and lost, and naïve. You are frightfully irresponsible, though you feel responsible for something. And you are not as good of a singer as you think you are."


	7. My Captain, My King

**What I Would Do For You: Chapter 7: My Captain, My King**

"What do you mean, it's a crime? I'm just lost." the girl protested.

Beleg sighed. "I don't make the rules, human, I just follow them." _Sometimes._

"So am I under arrest, or what?"

This girl had an infuriatingly informal manner of speech.

"That is for Elu Thingol to decide."

"Who's Alu Thingol?"

"Cease your speech and come with me."

She shut up and followed.

They walked- or rather, Beleg walked. The girl had to almost jog to keep up with his long strides. To her credit, the girl didn't complain. They traveled almost three leagues in this fashion before they reached the gates of Menegroth.

Hansi stopped them at the gate. "What have you there, Beleg? Elu Thingol has no great love of Men."

"It's a girl, you dunce. I'm under orders to report suspicious activity in the Girdle. This looks like suspicious activity." Beleg's voice suddenly got deeper and more menacing. "Now let. Me. Pass." he growled.

Hasni admitted Beleg and his prisoner, all the while wondering how Mablung could bear to be friends with the grouch.

Beleg led the girl through the Thousand Caves, winding through elaborate halls and decorated arches. Her eyes were wide- indeed, the Thousand Cave was an impressive residence, even for a king- but Beleg had no time to allow for sightseeing.

Beleg stopped outside Elu Thingol's audience chamber and had words with the guard- many words and few to the point. At length, Beleg and the human girl were allowed in.

"My King. My Queen." Beleg greeted in Sindarin, bowing low before Thingol and Melian. The girl- was she stupid?- did _not_ bow.

But Thingol had no patience for pleasantries today.

* * *

_I'd rather endure this hell a thousand times over_, Adira had said. Sure, Adira's life hadn't been perfect, but Leah didn't think that it was worse than what Adira was going through- well, wherever she was. Did she say Angband?

Suddenly Leah remembered what their last fight had been about. Adira was too melodramatic.

Leah contemplated this as her rescuer, Beleg, argued with the King. She couldn't understand a word of the exchange, but it was evident that they were both incredibly ticked off. Finally, the woman Leah assumed was the Queen said something sternly in the strange language, and both bickering men fell silent.

Beleg bowed before the royal couple, then took Leah's hand and led her away.

He guided her through the huge cave castle, twisting and turning through innumerable hallways, until he stopped in front of one door.

"Listen." Beleg said. Beleg internally debated the best way to put the Queen's verdict in the common speech of Men. Could this girl appreciate the mercies of Melian? She did not even-

"I'm listening. Do you have nothing to say, or what?"

Beleg sighed. "You are very fortunate; indeed, it seems Elbereth smiles upon you. Elu Thingol would have you banished or killed, and only by the mercy of Melian the Queen were you spared."

"Great. That's great. What's the other half of it?"

_Smart girl_, Beleg thought.

"Melian the Queen shows you great favor. She says you have been given a task by Eru Iluvatar Himself."

Leah remembered Adira mentioning an Eru. He was like God.

"How does the Queen know I have a task? I barely know what my task is."

"You gravely misunderstand the wisdom of Melian the Queen," Beleg answered. "She seeks the council of Iluvatar and will seek His will in this matter. Until then, you will remain in Menegroth as _her_ guest. This is a far greater mercy than you comprehend, or deserve."

Beleg left her outside the room, by herself in the massive castle, confused and alone.

Beleg breezed through the hallways, neither his visage nor his composure revealing the frustration he felt.

Thingol had demoted from a captain to a common soldier. All his hard work and service, all his effort, his very _fea _had gone into serving in Thingol's army. His life's work, _gone, _like a puff of smoke in the wind, a dream dispersed upon waking. Seven centuries of blood, sweat, and tears gone- all for some tiny, ignorant, insignificant, mortal daughter of Men.

He had taken her fall.

Beleg kept his cheerful face up.


	8. The Maiden and the Minstrel

**In which Leah makes a friend and an enemy. I do not own, yada yada. Enjoy.**

* * *

Leah paced back and forth in the room. She was scared, but there was no one to babble to, so she mumbled to herself.

"Okay. My best friend is not dead, I'm somewhere else in someone's home and the king wants to kill me for being lost in the forest." _This is totally not a bad situation,_ she ended sarcastically.

She stopped pacing. She was quite sure that if they had electricity here, a light bulb would have clicked on above her head. "Ermagerd. I woke up in a strange mystical place and I have a quest? This is just like one of those Mary Sue fics of Lord of the Rings. How did those plots go? The girl saves the world and hooks up with the male lead?"

Leah had a sudden thought. "Oh, gawd, I hope Beleg isn't the male lead."

To distance herself from what was quickly becoming an awkward train of thought, Leah turned to look at the room's spartan furnishings. It was windowless and dimly lit by lamps on the walls. Bed, closet, lamps, a pot Leah assumed you did your business in, and a tapestry above the bed.

The tapestry was of a man, or Elf, or man-elf of whatever. He was playing an instrument that looked like the love child of a violin and a banjo, and his expression was absolutely dripping with angst.

"Cheery place."

"It is my home."

"Oh sh-" Leah turned to see an elf girl about her own height. It was hard to guess age with these elves, Leah was learning, but she didn't quite look like an adult. _A teenager, then._ She was a gorgeous girl, like Snow White's twin- pale skin, dark hair, and a mouth that would never need lipstick, because it was already red.

The girl curtsied. "Greetings. I am Luthien, daughter of Elu Thingol."

_Great. A princess. A teenage princess._ "I'm, uh, Leah. Daughter of Bill."

The red mouth broke out in a smile. "My welcome, Leah, daughter of Bill! And my pardon for disturbing your repose. But I simply had to see if it was true- if a mortal passed the Girdle!"

Leah tried to smile. "Uh, yeah, no problem... Luthien. It's kind of lonely here."

The girl smiled again and laughed. "Excellent! I do not have any friends here. Would you like me to show you the rest of my home?"

Leah tried to imitate the elvish manner of speech. "If you would be so kind."

Luthien took Leah's hand and began the tour.

* * *

"My mother weaves all the tapestries, you see. She learned from Vaire the Weaver herself. Some of them are of things she has seen, but have yet to pass."

"That's epic."

Luthien laughed again. Leah was learning she was the optimist type and laughed quickly and easily. It was refreshing after Beleg's gruffness and the king's death threats. "I adore your accent. Tell me, what does 'epic' mean?"

It was like explaining LOLcats to a grownup. "It means very good, excellent. We say it to praise people."

"Ah." Luthien lapsed into a rare moment of silence.

A voice shattered it. "Luthien! Luthien! Where are you, songbird?"

She groaned. "Come. We must hide!"

"Wh-" Leah was cut off mid-sentence as Luthien dragged her down a hallway and into a room, footsteps following them.

Safely hidden for the moment, Leah asked her questions. "Who was that? Why are we hiding?"

Luthien rolled her grey eyes- proof that she was a teenager. "That's Daeron. He's on the tapestry in your room. He's the court musician...and my music teacher." She whispered confidentially, "I think he might ask my father for my hand."

"Like... in marriage?"

"Yes."

The whispered conversation was cut short as footsteps got closer to their hiding place. Luthien hid inside a closet. Leah was about to follow when the door burst open and the angsty guy off the tapestry stalked into the room. _I'll bet that's Daeron._

"Where is the princess?" He barked. His voice was still musical. "I heard her. Where is she, mortal?"

"Uhm..." Leah was an inexperienced liar. "I haven't seen Lu. Luthien. The princess. Nowhere. I'm just.. looking around this fine palace."

He scoffed, and leaned in close to Leah, and grabbed her shoulder. He growled, "I know she is here. And you had better not interfere with the young majesty's lessons, or Elu Thingol the King may have to intervene."

Leah gulped. "Okay."

Daeron released her and stormed out of the room.


	9. Mission Quest Thing

What I Would Do For You Chapter 9: Mission. Quest. Thing.

I own not, you sue not, you know the drill.

* * *

"It's that time!" Sauron sang, flinging open the door to Adira's cell. Adira was, as always, chained to the back wall of her dark cell by her wrists, giving her a perfect view of both the door and the imaginative torture devices that Sauron favored. "So, my pet," he purred, turning to survey the instruments hanging on the cell wall, "What game shall we play today, hmm?"

"Surprise me," Adira muttered under her breath. Sauron heard her anyway. He giggled, his red eyes turning into slits as he smiled. "Oh pet, you're so amusing. I do hope that when the Master decides you're no longer useful, he'll let me keep you. Now, what shall it be today? The whip?"

"You tried that last time," Adira muttered darkly.

"Oh, did we? Perhaps something to mar that pretty face? Maybe that lover of yours won't find you so enticing, hmm? Not to worry, pet. You'll always have a special place in _my_ heart."

"You have no heart. You're a monster," Adira spat, but Sauron ignored her. "Have we played with hot pokers yet?" Adira's expression spoke for itself. "Well then, I think we have our surprise."

* * *

"Today!" King Thingol bellowed. "I want the human girl gone today!"

"But Daddy-" Luthien whined.

"No buts about it, young lady! It's not proper for you to go gallavanting about with humans! She leaves today!"

"Thingol, dearest, perhaps it could be put off? Luthien's grown so fond of her." Melian began.

"No means no, Mel!" Thingol blustered. "I want the human gone on that Eru-forsaken mission or quest or whatever the Void it is!"

"I will send for her immediately, Majesty," a servant said, and began to leave. "Send for Cuthalion as well!" Thingol commanded.

The servant bowed. "Of course, Majesty."

Thingol was pacing and shouting at no one in particular when Leah and Beleg were brought before them. "What took you so long!?" he raged at the manservant, though it had really taken less that five minutes to assemble the two.

"YOU!" Thingol barked, pointing at Leah. "It is time to begin your quest to save your friend! You may take anything from my armories, excepting my own sword. You will be provided with gear for your journey. As a gesture of goodwill, I will also send with you a guide. One of my finest woodsmen, Beleg Cuthalion. You must leave by nightfall."

"...My lord?" Beleg asked. He knew that nothing good would come from helping the girl, but he hadn't expected Thingol to exile him! Oh, Thingol could wrap it up in all the fancy words he wanted, but that was what it was: an exile. This is what I get for getting mixed up with mortals.

"...gone by sundown," Thingol was saying. "May a star shine on your path."

"Uhm, gee, uh, thanks. Your Highness." the girl stammered out.

Thingol made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Beleg, if you would show her to the armories…?"

"If it please my lord." Beleg grumbled.

"It does please me. Fare you well."

Beleg stomped out of Thingol's audience chamber, Leah in tow.

* * *

Leah stood in Thingol's armory, completely confused by the axes and spears and swords and tall helms and bright mail. Beleg, however, seemed quite at home, lifting various weapons and testing their grip and balance. He seemed satisfied with one sword. "Here," he called, tossing the sword to Leah. She shrieked and jumped out of the way, the sword clattering on the stone floor. Beleg scoffed. "You'll have to do much better than that, human. It seems I'll have to train you…" He pinched the bridge of his nose, as if staving off a headache. "Ai, Elbereth."

Leah tentatively picked up the sword, and almost immediately dropped it. "It's heavy!" she exclaimed.

"Valar help me." Beleg lifted his eyes to the ceiling, appealing to some diety. "If you can't hold a sword and a shield, then you're going to be useless. Worse than useless. You'll be orc bait."

Once, a comment like that would have had Leah in tears. She still felt like crying, but swallowed the feeling. She'd been pushed around enough for a whole lifetime. She was stronger than crying at some hurtful words. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not from around here. No, I've never held a sword or a shield or fought anybody. So, yeah, you are going to have to teach me. But you won't be helping either of us if all you do is bitch about how useless I am."

Beleg didn't respond, simply looking at her with a mildly shocked expression on his face. Leah wasn't sure if it was because she had suddenly stood up for herself or because she said 'bitch'.

"Women shouldn't say such things," Beleg muttered, as much to himself as to her, effectively answering her question. Then he nodded at the sword on the ground. "That's the lightest that the smiths make, so you'll have to get used to the weight. Until then, you won't be able to use a shield… well, maybe not a larger shield… a wooden one might serve well enough, if it were strapped to your arm instead of you holding it…. yes, that should work."

Not wanting to disturb Beleg's musings, Leah wandered around the armory. It was deep within the cave castle, with shelves and hooks carved ornately out of stone. The large room was dimly lit with torches every fifteen feet or so, but everything appeared to be in splendid condition despite the gloomy surroundings. Leah spied a shiny helmet shaped like an eagle with outstretched wings. She tried it on her head, but it was much too big and nearly fell off her head. Leah replaced it carefully on the shelf. As she did, something else caught her eye- a pile of small axes, none of them longer than twelve inches.

"Ah, those are for throwing. Are you a good shot?" Beleg came up behind Leah, startling her. "Uhm, yeah, I was pretty good at darts back home."

Beleg considered this, then nodded. "Fill a bag with throwing axes, then. They should be excellent for distracting an opponent."

"So do you think we'll see a lot of… you know… battle?" Leah asked.

"Maybe," Beleg shrugged. "Orcs are bolder than they used to be. And the path to Angband is long- one hundred and fifty leagues."

"Wow. That's… that's a lot. Will we be walking all that?"

"Hopefully we will have horses. Have you ever ridden a horse, mortal?"

"No."

Beleg pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yet another task. Have you picked armor, traveling clothes?"

"...No."

"Get started then. Thingol wants us gone by sunset." Beleg dismissed her.

Leah ran off. Since her arrival in Menegroth a month before, she had been dressed in Elven clothes. She had no idea what happened to the clothes she was wearing when she first arrived. Dresses were nice, but if she was going to go on an adventure- and it seemed she would- she would much rather wear pants.

Down the hall there was a room filled with clothes. They were all excellently made, but they were made for elves. Leah had always thought that she was of average build, but it seemed that Elves either had no had no hips, or that she had suddenly developed them. Leah spent quite a while trying to find a pair of pants that would fit her. But finally she emerged, wearing dark green breeches, a brown tunic and undershirt, and black boots. Leah felt… prepared. She actually felt like this quest thing wasn't going to be so bad.


End file.
